로그인POV: Dual, Khyle and GunnerBreak accomplished, coach and student were back at their positions, locked once again in a stubborn sort of combat, their short talk having no particular noticeable effect on the enforcer's puck handling skills thus far, as shot after shot failed to make it past the invisible barrier that Cooper seemed to have conjured. As expected by now, the shots from Cooper came just as fast and as hard as the enforcer's. Chirpy, cheap, and fast."Come now." The puck snagged up high in his glove."That one was so close." It bounced off his goal pad."The tension is mounting." He caught it between bent knees."My defense is riddled with holes. Shall I point them out for you?" He batted it away with his stick."Do you even want to put the puck in the net?" A sniper-like slap shot followed."I wonder, if you score, will it not be deserved?" The next puck had a wobble to it as it skipped across the frozen arena floor."Perhaps, the only thing you really want... is to erase
POV: Dual, Khyle and GunnerThey took a quick break.Elbows out and head resting on his wrists, Gunner was slouched forward against the boards in the player's bench, the position allowing a deep stretching of his back and shoulders while giving his body a chance to rest and recharge. But the man down the bench, noticeably parked just out of his reach, was still keeping his mind as busy as ever.The guy was next level.He turned his head to the side to study him."How come you ain't playing?""Who, me?" Cooper let out a shrill, long-winded howl, the very nature of the sound offensive to Gunner in every imaginable way. "Oooooh! With my back the way it is? I couldn't possibly!" Gunner's back teeth gritted against each other."Your back looks fine to me.""You're too kind, Grim-san!" Gunner sat up and eyed him further."Grim-san?" he muttered to himself, the slightest twitch around one eye. He'd been calling him that all morning. And he didn't like it."But I'm not as young and spry as I
POV: Dual, Khyle and Gunner"Che."Just fifteen lucky saves later, and Cooper raised a hand to pause the enforcer."That's fifteen for meeeee," he cooed. "Just one for you, Gunner-san."Gunner growled low to himself, but wasn't going to allow himself to be goaded."Yeah, well, I was goin' easy on you. Cuz, you know." He glanced at Khyle, then back to Cooper and made a winding motion around his temple with his gloved index finger. "You're crazy.""Ah, yes. I must admit I did let myself become distracted," Cooper replied. "I started to think about the peewee class I'm teaching later today. And I thought perhaps that would be more... your speed."Azure eyes popped open. The what. The what? Then narrowed into slits.So, that's how it was gonna be, eh? The gloves were off. Gunner's angry smirk stretched outward. Good then. Good."Now then, boys." Cooper slapped the goal posts once each with his stick, then crouched. "Come at me."Gunner chuffed and shook his head in disdain. He leaned forw
POV: Dual, Khyle and Gunner"Che."Just fifteen lucky saves later, and Cooper raised a hand to pause the enforcer."That's fifteen for meeeee," he cooed. "Just one for you, Gunner-san."Gunner growled low to himself, but wasn't going to allow himself to be goaded."Yeah, well, I was goin' easy on you. Cuz, you know." He glanced at Khyle, then back to Cooper and made a winding motion around his temple with his gloved index finger. "You're crazy.""Ah, yes. I must admit I did let myself become distracted," Cooper replied. "I started to think about the peewee class I'm teaching later today. And I thought perhaps that would be more... your speed."Azure eyes popped open. The. Hell. Then narrowed into slits.So, that's how it was gonna be, eh? The gloves were off. Gunner's angry smirk stretched outward. Good then. Good."Now then, boys." Cooper slapped the goal posts once each with his stick, then crouched. "Come at me."Gunner chuffed and shook his head in disdain. He leaned forward on hi
POV: Dual, Khyle and GunnerThat was the point in time when Khyle too had felt his jaw tighten and his shoulders go rigid. And maybe his soul pack it up and go home. But for different reasons.Here were two of the most mule-headed people he'd ever met, both equally set in their own ways. And he'd brought them together. What had he been thinking? He'd been asking himself that a lot today. And probably would again later.He watched Gunner from across the ice, the enforcer's jaw set and his movements carrying that particular brand of controlled fury he wore when he was putting enormous effort into not completely losing his mind. And across the rink, Cooper sat on his cushion with his tea, serene and unmoved, as if he were watching clouds.Khyle had done this to himself. To both of them.He let out a slow breath and kept skating."This is stupid!" Gunner spat in frustration, eyes nearly as shiny from anger as his lips were from the effort. "It's rocking chair races!"While Gunner spun awa
POV: GunnerWhat a half crapped out idea this was turning out to be.After consuming what had to be a metric tonne of water, Gunner forced himself back out onto the ice. He'd rather suffer through the hurt than look weak in front of these two.He'd never admit it aloud, but he was almost regretting the way he'd argued with Khyle's old coach just an hour ago. It felt like months.It hadn't gone well for him. There was nothing that could be said to the man that he couldn't counter with a spoonful of smallness hidden behind that shadowy smile.The memory of it was still fresh enough to sting. He'd thrown the challenge out, told Cooper to his face that he knew the approach and it didn't do much for him. And Cooper had taken a small sip of his tea, set the cup down, and looked across the rink at Gunner with that grey-eyed equanimity that made Gunner want to break things."There's a very wide net over there," he'd said, nodding toward the business end of the rink. "I'd like to see if you ca
POV: GunnerThe locker room after the game had the specific quality of a space where something significant had happened and everyone present was still processing whether it was over.It wasn't over. Gunner knew that. The fight had been real and the ejection had been real and the suspension was real
POV: Dual, Khyle and GunnerHe came in like weather.The door didn't slam because he didn't slam it. He didn't need to. The quality of his arrival filled the room without requiring any additional punctuation, and the players who had been in the general vicinity of the door dispersed to either side
POV: KhyleGunner Jäger moved through the locker room the way certain animals moved through their natural environment. Not fast, not slow, but with the complete physical confidence of something that had never once had to consider whether it belonged somewhere. He slipped through the cluster of jost
POV: KhyleThe anthem was almost over.Khyle could feel it in the way the crowd was shifting, that collective intake of breath that happened in the last few bars, nineteen thousand people unconsciously bracing themselves for the moment the music stopped and the game began. He'd felt it before, in s







